Arden Hills shooting suspect had business, romantic ties to victim

Investigators from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigate the scene of a fatal shooting at a Holiday gas station in Arden Hills on Monday, August 11, 2014. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

A Boston Scientific executive who was fatally shot Monday at an Arden Hills gas station once had his life intertwined with the shooting suspect -- they had been life partners and started a popular Minneapolis nightclub together.

But Kelly L. Phillips, 48, had moved on. He was to marry another man this month and had ended his business relationship with Lyle "Ty" Marvin Hoffman, 44.

The Ramsey County sheriff's office said Tuesday that it was seeking Hoffman as a suspect in Phillips' homicide.

Lyle Marvin Hoffman (Courtesy of the Ramsey County sheriff's office)

Five police agencies searched for Hoffman in two hangars at the Anoka County Blaine airport Tuesday afternoon, but did not find him, Blaine police said.

Phillips, of Minneapolis, was general counsel and vice president for Boston Scientific, which has offices about two miles from the crime scene.

Phillips and Hoffman had been together for perhaps five years, said Kathleen Simon, who was previously married to Phillips and remained his friend.

"I know their relationship was fairly rocky at the end," she said Tuesday, adding that Phillips had once mentioned "some temper and violence" affecting the former couple's relationship.

"I said, 'You're a lawyer and you know how this goes, take care of yourself.

Advertisement

' I had no idea it would have got where it did," Simon said.

Minneapolis police had no record of contacts with either Phillips or Hoffman from 2009 to the present.

In a 2009 Lavender magazine profile, Hoffman and Phillips were featured as "the brainchild owners" of Lush Food Bar in Northeast Minneapolis, which calls itself a gay-friendly club in Northeast Minneapolis, and were described as life partners.

Phillips owned the business and in 2008 bought the building where it's located for about $500,000.

Phillips was busy with his work at Boston Scientific and Hoffman managed day-to-day operations at Lush, but Phillips reportedly ended the business relationship with Hoffman in the beginning of 2013.

Simon said she wasn't sure what had gone wrong, adding that the couple had started the business venture when their relationship was still strong.

"It's hard to know if it's a relationship or a business thing," she said. "I'm sure it was a combination of the two," she said.

Phillips owned a house around the corner from Lush and had been renting a unit to Hoffman, but Phillips took Hoffman to Hennepin County housing court to have him evicted. The rent was to be $500 a month from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2013, according to the eviction complaint.

A sign on the door of Lush Food Bar on Tuesday announces the club would be closed until Wednesday, Aug. 13, "as we remember Kelly." (Pioneer Press: Sarah Horner)

Hoffman hadn't vacated the apartment after the lease expired, and Phillips' attorney had sent two notices as "a courtesy" asking him to leave, though the notices weren't required by law, according to the March eviction judgment. In April, the Hennepin County sheriff's office evicted Hoffman, a court document shows.

PLEADING, SHOT POINT BLANK, WITNESS SAYS

Witnesses told investigators Monday that they saw two men arrive in the same car about 8:30 a.m. at the Holiday Station at 1920 Ramsey County Highway 96 W in Arden Hills.

Josh Polos, 40, of Little Canada was pumping gas at the station with his colleague before work when he noticed the black BMW pull in to the parking lot.

He said he heard bickering and swearing coming from the car as it parked. Then suddenly both men climbed out.

"All of a sudden the shooter just shot (Phillips)," Polos said. "Then (Phillips) turned to run away and he shot him again in the back."

The third bullet was fired as Phillips was lying on the ground begging for his life, Polos said.

"He was saying 'No, no, no, please' and the guy just stood right over the top of him and shot him point blank in the head," Polos said.

Seconds later, Polos said, the man was back in his car, where he sat for about 30 seconds before peeling out of the lot, driving over Phillips body on his way out.

Polos waited beside Phillips for police to arrive.

"I felt for a pulse and it looked like he was trying to gasp for air. ... I just told him help was on the way and to hang in there," Polos said. "I knew in my heart he wasn't going to make it but I didn't want him to feel alone, like he was dying alone."

That moment has been replaying in his mind ever since, Polos said. He also can't shake the image of the shooter's face after he'd fired the final bullet.

"He looked like he'd just got electrocuted," Polos said. "He just had a look in his eyes of complete shock, and he was really, really quick to get back in the car."

The shooter reportedly fled north on nearby Interstate 35W in a dark-colored 2011 BMW. The vehicle was found in Blaine at 11:15 p.m. Monday.

Phillips was taken by ambulance to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, where he was pronounced dead.

Anyone with information about Hoffman's whereabouts is asked to call the sheriff's office at 651-266-7320.

Hoffman has a few traffic offenses but no criminal record in Minnesota, according to court records.

SHOCK, SORROW AT BOSTON SCIENTIFIC

Phillips was a hard-working, dedicated man, said Simon, who knew him since she was 15; they were high school sweethearts in Mason City, Iowa, who married in 1988 and divorced in 1997.

"He was a wonderful man," Simon said. "When he put his mind to something, he got it done. ... I'm better for having known him. ... To have this happen is heartbreaking."

Phillips worked as a waiter and lifeguard while he was in high school, Simon said. He also wrestled and played football. Phillips attended the University of Northern Iowa for his undergraduate degree and got his law degree from the University of Iowa. He graduated first or second in his law school class, Simon said.

Officials with Boston Scientific, where he worked for 14 years, expressed shock and sorrow over the news of Phillips' death.

"We are devastated by yesterday's unexpected death of our dear friend and colleague," Denise Kaigler, senior vice president of corporate affairs and communications for Boston Scientific, said in a statement Tuesday.

"Kelly will be remembered not only for his great skills as a lawyer, but also for his kindness, gentleness and ability to make those around him feel better about themselves," she said.

Minneapolis Ward 3 Council Member Jacob Frey said Phillips was heavily invested in his community. Always the voice of reason, he said, Phillips attended nearly all neighborhood association meetings and was heavily involved in the push to legalize gay marriage. Lush Food Bar is in Ward 3.

"There are people who care about their own back yard, but Kelly cared far beyond that," Frey said.

"He had a rich life with friends, with loved ones," he said. "He didn't shy away from hard community work. He just had a good, good heart."

Lush Food Bar was closed Tuesday "as we remember Kelly," according to a post on the establishment's Facebook page, and was to reopen Wednesday. A block party to celebrate Lush's fifth anniversary already had been planned for Friday and Saturday.

Phillips was listed as president and sole owner, and he had "extensive experience with restaurants," according to a 2009 Minneapolis license inspector's report. At the time of the report, Hoffman was the manager. He'd been the owner and manager of Global Grounds in Spring Lake Park for five years, the report said.

Phillips became the business manager of record, but Minneapolis licensing on Tuesday could not confirm when that happened.

PUSHED OVER THE EDGE, SISTER SAYS

Dawn Gominsky, Hoffman's half-sister, said an unfair picture has emerged about the man she and eight other siblings were raised alongside in Spring Lake Park.

She described him as a hard-working, intelligent man who was blindsided when Phillips, his former lover, suddenly pushed him out of the business and home, which he told her he thought they jointly owned.

"All along Ty thought his name was on (Lush) and the house, but it turns out it wasn't on either," she said.

Though the two broke up about four years ago, Gominsky said, Phillips' decision to part ways with Hoffman professionally came about a year ago. Phillips later had Hoffman evicted.

Gominsky said she didn't know what prompted it, but said Hoffman told her that Phillips claimed Hoffman had been embezzling from Lush to justify the move.

"He was devastated," Gominsky said of her brother. "Imagine having this lifestyle and all this money and doing what you want, when you want and suddenly having nothing.

"I'm not saying what Ty did is right, by all means, my God, it's very wrong. ... I'm just saying there are two sides to every story," Gominsky said. "My brother is not a monster. He is a wonderful, smart, good man who was pushed over the edge."

She said she hasn't heard from her brother in months but desperately hopes to now.

"I even went down by Blaine airport and yelled his name in the woods," she said. "He is my brother. I love him ... I want to know where he is."

On Monday, the Ramsey County sheriff's office had arrested Nathon Bailey, 37, of Minneapolis on suspicion of homicide. Bailey, listed as Phillips' partner on a wedding registry, was booked into the Ramsey County jail and released about 1:15 a.m. Tuesday, pending further investigation.